32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



"Where there is a mowing field that shows signs of decline, and needs 

 plowing and re-seeding, the grass may be cut early, say, b}- the mid- 

 dle or last of June, and the sod turned over for growing a crop of 

 millet. If the work is pushed along, and the cultivation well done, 

 and a fair dressing of some kind of fertilizer applied, there should 

 be no difficult}' in obtaining two tons of good hay from each acre 

 sown, provided the season is at all favorable. A full crop maybe 

 obtained from seed sown at am' time between June first and the 

 middle of Julv. The later variety, previously' alluded to, often 

 called golden millet, requires a longer season, and if a full crop is 

 expected, must not be sown later than the first of July. I grew a 

 a crop the past summer after early cut ha}', which in September, 

 yielded at the rate of over eighteen tons of green fodder per acre, 

 and a measured area cut, and dried near a kitchen stove for two 

 months, or till quite brittle, weighed at the rate of over four 

 and three-fourths tons per acre. The fodder is coarse, and 

 seldom lodges while growing, but cattle are very fond of it when 

 cured for hay. 



Wheu the season becomes too fiir advanced, for sowing millet or 

 planting corn, I use all otherwise idle land for growing fall crops of 

 spring grain. I have grown oats, wheat and barley with excellent 

 success, but barley gives the best satisfaction, as it is less subject to 

 rust than oats, and the seed is usualh' cheaper than wheat. None 

 of these crops are materially injured by autumnal frosts. I have 

 cut heavy crops of barle}', that have stood under several inches of 

 snow, and have cut it after the germ was considerably frozen. Less 

 seed is required for fall sowing, as the growth is rapid during July 

 and August, and there is danger of waste from lodging, if it stands 

 too thickly. Three bushels of good seed barley is enough for fall 

 seeding. It may be sown from the middle of Juh- to the middle of 

 August. Have had a good crop from seed sown the 23d of August, 

 but the crop is usuall}' lighter when put in ver}' late. 



These late grown summer and fall crops may be cured for hay 

 just so long as good hay weather lasts. I made hay this year of 

 barlc}', grown after a crop of winter wheat had been cut for seed, 

 the wheat being out of the way the 10th of Juh'. Hay often cures 

 very slowl}', late in the season, but as the cold increases, there is less 

 necessity for getting it very dry, as it will heat in the mow much less 

 readil}' in October than in Jul}'. In naming forage plants, I must 

 not forget our leading staple grass. Nothing is better than grass, 



